Sheet-feeding device for printing-presses.



I D. F. REID & H. G. JOHNSON.

SHEET FEEDING DEVICE POR'PRINTING PRESSBS.

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APPLIOATION FILED IEB.15, 1912.

Patentgd Mar. 4, 191 3. s

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UN TED STATES PATENT orrion.

DANIEL F. REID, DGBCHES'LER, AND HARRY I3. JOHNSON, OF CAMBRIDGE,

' MASSACHUSETTS SHEET-FEEDING DEVICE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES- Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 4,1913.

Application filed Februeij 15, 3912. Serial No. 677,855.

certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Feeding Devices forPrinting-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

In the art or fine printin it is always customary to insert between t 1eprinted sheets other sheets known as slip sheets to prevent the inkbeing ofiset.

Heretofore, when these slip sheets are used, the are piled on a platformat one side of t e" rose and it has been necessary for the fee er tostand at the end of the printin press and the printed sheets aredelivered from the platen upon the delivery reel: a slip sheet is seizedin one hand, transferred to the oibei, and placed upon the printed sheetbefore another printed sheet isdelivered thereon, Owing to the positionthat the feeder has been obliged to take at the end of the machine whilethe sheets are set the side of the press, he has been obliged to reach.over operating parts or the machine, which their movement interferematerially with his operations, as he must continuously be on guard toprevent injury to himself and also injury to the operating parts of thedelivery meohanism. Moreover, when the feeding of the slip sheets isdone in this manner, the feeder ll" kept continuously at work and underconsiderable strain botharnis being always in operation.

Obviously the feeding of the slip sheets from the side of the printingpressis very objectionable for the above stated reasons, and to overcomethese objections is the principal purpose of the present invention.

This invention provides for moving the platform adapted to support theslip sheets, which platform will move with the delivery .mechelnism intoa position Where an opera- :or at the end of the printing press mayseize the upper slip sheet and hold it while the movable rack supportingthe slip sheets returns to its normal position, thus permitting thesheet seized by the operator to be dropped upon-the upper face of thelast printed sheet preparatory to the delivery ihcroon or anotherprinted sheet. This slip. sheets between the printed sheets and may bequickly and acouratel performed by even the cheapest labor, while, whenth slip sheets are inserted by a feeder from the side of the press anexperienced and thoroughly skilled helper is necessary.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction andarrangement of parts which will be readily understood byreference to thedrawings and to the claims hereinafter given.

Of the drawings: Figure 1 represents a side elevation of so much of aprinting press as is nece ssary to show the connection of the presentinvention applied thereto. Fig.

represents a plan of a portion of the same. F ig; 3 represents anelevation of the movable rack supporting the slip sheets and the trucksupporting the some, and Fig. 4 represents enlarged detail in plan ofone of the supports for the movable rack supporting track.

Similar chm-esters designate like parts throughout the several figuresof the drawinos.

in the drawings, represents a portion of the side frame of a printingpress-provided with a bearing 11 for a cylindrical platen 12 from whichprinted sheets are delivered onto endless bands 13 in the usual manner,and are moved lengthwise thereon onto the fingers 14 supported by atravelflig carriage 15 provided with trucks 16 movable lengthwise of theinclined rails 17 At 18 a. coupler 19 is pivoted to the travelingcarriage. iii, the opposite end of said coupler being pi otallyconnected at 20 lo an oscillating arm 21 secured to a shaft 22 which hasalso secured at one end thereof an arm 23 the outer-end of which is provded with a stud 2% to which is pivotally' connected a link 25 theopposite end of which is connected to some movable part of the printingpress which will cause in its movement a continuous osc llation of theshaft 22, and thereby move the carriage 15 from its normal position asshown in full lines in Fig. l of the drawings, to a position shown indotted lines in said figure at 26, and subsequently return the carriageto its normalposition. The two side frames of the carriage 15 areconnected together by mean of a rod '27. In the ordinary construction ofa print-- ing press a shaft 28 extends transversely greatly sin'ipliiiesthe work of inserting the l thereoi', and a smaller shaft 29 extendstransversely of the press and is supported in hearings in the upwardlyextending bracketv of the side frames 10. Between the side frames 10 ofthe printing press-at the delivery end of the press is a rack 31 supported. by members 32 and having an end stop 33. All of the parts heretoforedescribed are common to most cylinder presses and particularly to theMiehle printing press, a porw tion of whiclris shown in the drawings asone type of printing press to which the present invention may he;applied. An inclined rail is provided with downwardly extending forkedarm 35 straddling the shaft 28 between its hearings, the opposite end ofwhich is pivotally secured to a member 36 in turn adjustably secured bymeans of the bolt 3"? extending through a slot 38 to an arm 3-9 mountedupon the shaft 29.

in the operation of printing the platen cylinder 2 is raised and loweredslightly. and during this movement the rail 34 permitted to accommodateitself to this inovement by turningmoout its pivotal connection with themember Supporfed'at one end by trucks to movable lengthwise of the rails34- is a movable platform ll adapted to support a pile of slip sheets42, the opposite end oi said platform being pro- "led ill a bracket tothe lower end oi member 4-4 stradnich secured a to dling the rod formi.V a part of the-mov-- able rriafgte 2G. The slip sheet supporting raclrprovided with a registering men up; a plurality. of pins adapted on inthe holes 4:7 in saidrack all. ides a: ready means for adjusting r-gieering member longitudinally of the rack all, said registering devicepreventgq; .ing the slip sheets from moving endwise at one ,end of themovement of said rack While at the other end of said movement the sheetsare prevented from becoming displaced by the inclination of the rack asin- 45, dicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. It is-obviousthat from this construction the sheet delivery mechanism whicl'i conveysthe printed sheets from the platen to the delivery rack 31 operates inso unison with the movable slip sheet support 'ing; rack While theprinted sheet is being arried hy the fingers ll into position to hedropped upon the rack ill a pile of slip sheets on the rack 41 issimultaneously 5.5 hemg moved into the position shown in dotted lines inFig. l of the drawings. This provides a means whereby a boy or otherhelper standing at the end of the printing press may simply place hisfingers upon the upper slip sheet, and the rack carrying the same makesa return movement toward the platen. 12 the pile of slip Sheetsisremoved from under the upper one, the permitting the helper to placeit upon last printed. sheet i'lelive ed to the reel.

By the use of such a device as is herein described thepress may be runat a greater speed inasmuch as by the old method of feeding the slipsheets the speed of the press is determined by the skill of the slipsheet feeder, and as thelatler has many movements to npalre'in order toplace a slip sheet in position upon the printed sheet the speed of thepress is necessarily limited to the rapidity with which he can feed thesheets. The Work 01 the helper with the present construction operatingat the end ol the press so simple that the press may be speeded up to"its limit and the slip sheet-s interposed between the printed sheets asfast as they can be delivered to the rack 31. Ohviousl y this is a greatadvantage.

- It is-believed that the operation and many I advantages of the"invention will be thoroughly understood from the foregoing.

Having thus described our invention, We claimr 1. In a machine of meclass described, the

vcombination with a delivery rack to receivethe printed sheets andmechanism for conveying; said sheets thereto from the platen;supplemental rails provided with forked members straddling a transverserodoic' the press and pivotally connected at the other end to anothertransverse rod; and a supplemental slip sheet supporting rack con nectedto said, delivery mechanism and adapted to he reciprocateol thereby oversaid rolls into a position alcove the delivery rank.

2. ln a machine of theclass descrihed,-the combination with a deliveryrack to receive the-printed sheets and mechanism for-conveying saidsheetstheretc from the platen; supplemental rails inclined downwardlytoward the delivery end of the omachine one 'end of each of whichispivotally connected to a transverse i'odof the press While the otherend is provided With a downward forked extension straddlinganothertransverse rod; and a snpplementaisli sheet supporting rackconnected to said elivery mechanism and adapted to be reciprocatedthereby over said rails into a position above the delivery raclr.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a deliveryrack to receive the printedsheets and mechanism for conveying saidsheets thereto from the platen consisting in part of a transverse rod;rails fixed from end movement; a su plemental. slip sheet supportingrack provir ed at one end with trucks m'ovable'on said fixed rails an atthe other with downward forked extensions straddling said rod andinsuring a simultaneous movement of said. conveying i'neehanism and saidsupplemental rack.

4-. lo a u'iachine oi the class described, the comhin oi meclmni m I tlpriu sh ets "on a dell transverse member forming a part of said thepress; and a supplemental slip sheet sup porting 'nck having groovedWheels at one end on said rails and arms straddling aconveying mechanismnnwahle in unison Wli'll said sheet conveying mechanism and 1 8111170*ai'ily positioned above said delivery nick. i

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of mechanism forConveying the printed sheets to a delivery rack; sepanted mils snpporiedby transverse rods'on the press in inclined position; and asuppleinenl'al slip sheet supporting rack-movable in unison with saidsheet conveyingl mechanism and temporarily positioned above saiddelivery rack in an inclined position, said rack being provided at Oneend \viih grooved wheels adapted to travel over said rails and at theother end with down- 20 ward forked extensions straddling a rod fanninga part of the printed sheet delivery mechanism.

Signed by us at 4 Post Oflice Sq.. Boston, Mass, this 13th day ofFebruary, 1912-.

DANIEL F. REID. HARRY C. JOHNSON. 'Wiii'iesses:

\VALTER E. LOMBARD, NATHAN C. LOMBARD.

